Suspicious Movements - Part 3
Seere called out to Secily while hiding her long horns with magic and covering her face with a hooded coat. The two of them had already arrived in the city of Chelino and were heading toward the adventurers’ guild where Eri was supposed to be.
“Yes, Your Majesty. What is it?”
“Master just said something earlier. That the Pope brought a woman into his bedchamber.”
“Yes, he did.”
“What does that mean?”
The eyes that asked this question were pure innocence itself. Though her outward appearance had already reached the latter stages of puberty—looking around fifteen by human standards—Seere was still only twelve years old. Thanks to that, Secily found herself greatly flustered for the first time in a long while. It was the first time since the incident when Nahen had snuck out without Seere knowing and she had refused to eat pudding.
She was so startled that her pupils trembled, her ears perked up sharply, and the fur on her tail stood on end. It was fortunate that the magic concealing her ears and tail kept her emotions from being noticed.
“W-what do you mean by ‘what does that mean’…?”
In her panic, Secily ended up asking a very strange question in return. Seere tilted her head at her reaction.
“It means I need an explanation.”
“What kind of explanation do you want, Your Majesty?”
“Does ‘bringing someone into the bedchamber’ mean sleeping together?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
At Secily’s confirmation, Seere looked even more puzzled.
“Is sleeping together a bad thing?”
“Pardon?”
“We don’t do it these days, but back then I used to sleep with you and Rea sometimes, didn’t I?”
“That was… because you were very young. And there’s a difference between the opposite sex and the same sex, isn’t there?”
“Opposite sex? You mean when the genders are different? But I’ve slept with Master sometimes too. Was that not allowed? And even though it might feel a little awkward now that I’m bigger… is it really such a big problem? Enough for those inquisitors to make such a fuss?”
“That…”
Secily looked deeply troubled, unsure how to explain this. Come to think of it, Nahen had given Seere education in character, etiquette, knowledge, combat, magic—everything she needed—but he had never once given her sex education.
‘The head maid too…’
She had never seen Rea do it either. That meant Seere currently had no exact understanding of what it meant for “a man to bring a woman into his bedchamber.” She was taking the words at their literal, dictionary definition only.
“Haa.”
“Secily?”
There was no helping it. She would have to shoulder this responsibility herself. After letting out a sigh, Secily widened her eyes, then pulled Seere into a quiet corner.
“Come this way, Your Majesty.”
“Hm?”
When Seere followed her into the corner, Secily whispered quietly into her ear.
“Actually, the phrase ‘bringing someone into the bedchamber’… is a kind of figurative expression.”
“Figurative?”
“Yes. So the original meaning is…”
Secily whispered the explanation into Seere’s ear. Seere listened attentively at first, then began blinking rapidly.
“…Huh?”
“That’s what it means, Your Majesty. Originally it’s the reproductive act for making children, but it’s also something people do for pleasure.”
“Oh, I thought babies were brought by dragons?”
“They’re not.”
“Th-that’s a lie! Father told me that himself!”
When Seere’s voice rose, Secily gestured for her to lower it. Then she quietly told her the truth.
“That was because you were too young, so His Majesty Seir made something up to suit the occasion. In truth, all life is born when a man and a woman become one.”
“…B-become one?”
“Yes.”
Having said that, Secily pulled back from Seere’s ear. Seeing the girl’s cheeks dyed as red as the sunset, Secily let out a small chuckle. She might look all grown up, but moments like this showed she was still a child.
“Now do you understand what it means that the Pope brought a woman into his bedchamber?”
Nod…
Watching Seere slowly nod in embarrassment, Secily smiled as if she found it adorable.
Having finished the short sex education session, Secily pointed down the street again.
“Let’s go now, Your Majesty. We’ll be late.”
“Ah… yes… I understand.”
Whether it was the shock of learning something she had never known before, or whether Seere was surprisingly innocent in this area, she walked after Secily with her head hung low.
Is what Secily told me… really true?
It’s hard to believe, but Secily isn’t the kind of person who would lie to me about something like this. Her eyes didn’t look like she was lying, either.
Father once told me that if two people who love each other hold hands and sleep together, a dragon will bring them a child.
But that was just an excuse for when I was little, and actually…
‘A man… and a woman…’
Just imagining it for a moment makes my face turn bright red without me realizing it. I can feel my heart pounding wildly.
I don’t even know what kind of feeling this is. It feels like clouds of questions are billowing up inside my head. My mind is foggy, covered in mist… I can’t think of anything at all.
‘…Ah.’
Suddenly, an obvious yet strangely new realization comes to me.
Master is a man, and I am a woman.
Then… could Master and I… become like that too?
“Ah.”
Eri, who had been waiting at the adventurers’ guild, immediately recognized Seere and Secily. In fact, it would have been stranger if she hadn’t.
‘…Isn’t it too obvious?’
Even with the hood up, her appearance was impossible to fully hide and was already drawing attention. Snow-white hair like fresh snow, eyes as clear as the sea, a straight nose, and a pretty, cute face that was both mature and still carried a hint of youth. Even as a woman, Eri thought it was an appearance that simply couldn’t avoid standing out.
The idle male adventurers who had been flipping through request boards in the lounge were already staring with hungry eyes. These were the kind of people who were so jaded they wouldn’t even bother talking to Eri, yet here they were.
“Se…”
Eri started to call out to Seere but stopped herself, unsure what identities they were using. With no other choice, she walked over to them directly. When Eri approached, Seere spotted her and acknowledged her.
“Oh, human.”
“Your Majesty, if you speak like that we’ll be found out.”
When Secily pointed out the way she was speaking to Eri, Seere thought for a moment, recalled her name, and corrected herself.
“Eri?”
“Right now I’m using the name Eli.”
“Ah, right. Eli.”
Seere nodded as if she remembered. Whether it was because Eri herself had an eye-catching appearance, or because she had approached Seere—who was already drawing the guild’s attention—every eye in the room was now fixed on the three of them.
Feeling the gazes, Eri quietly suggested,
“For now… shall we go outside?”
“Hm?”
“That would be best. It feels rather… unpleasant in here.”
Seere tilted her head, but Secily agreed with Eri’s opinion. Perhaps because she still hadn’t noticed the lewd stares of the opposite sex, Seere looked like she didn’t quite understand.
“There’s a restaurant next door that serves delicious food. How about we talk there?”
“Delicious food? Sounds good.”
When Seere, Secily, and Eri left the adventurers’ guild together, the male adventurers who had been planning to use requests as an excuse to talk to them clicked their tongues in disappointment. Of course, among them were certainly some who had been thinking of taking more direct action.
However, most of them gave up after seeing the adventurer rank badges attached to their shoulder straps. The three who had come outside headed straight into the nearby restaurant, took seats in a secluded corner, and sat down.
Eri first asked the question she was most curious about.
“How should I address the two of you…?”
“Ah, aliases?”
Seere took out her identification card and said,
“It says something like this, but I don’t know the human language so I have no idea how to read it.”
“Same here.”
Hearing their answers, Eri tilted her head.
“Didn’t Sir Nahen tell you?”
“Master didn’t say anything at all.”
“Um…”
She couldn’t understand why he hadn’t, but Eri went ahead and told them the names written on the identification cards.
“Your Majesty’s name is ‘Sera.’ Secily, yours is ‘Sylvia.’”
“It doesn’t feel all that different from my real name.”
“Sir Nahen probably asked for names that were as similar as possible… so we wouldn’t get confused.”
“Master did?”
Seere smiled brightly. Just thinking about Nahen made her feel good, and the smile came naturally. Having once heard Seere’s meaningful comment, Eri saw that smile and gave a small shiver.
“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. By the way, Your Majesty… would it be all right if I call you by name instead of ‘Your Majesty’ in front of others?”
“Ah, you mean the alias?”
“Yes… I would never dream of putting myself on the same level as Your Majesty, of course…”
“Sure, go ahead.”
The permission came more easily than expected. Eri’s eyes widened in surprise. Seeing her expression, Seere said,
“Did you think I wouldn’t allow even that much?”
“Ah, no. That’s not what I thought.”
“Master gave me a mission, so until I complete it, I’ll do my best too. Secily… no, Sylvia, you can speak comfortably as well.”
“How could I possibly do that? Since I probably won’t have much to say anyway, I’ll just act like a quiet person.”
“Do as you like.”
Thanks to Seere’s cheerful permission, Eri felt much more at ease. She wanted to talk about the mission Nahen had entrusted to her. Before the food arrived, she carefully spread a map across the empty table.
“There’s a village about two kilometers west of Chelino City.”
“Here?”
“Yes. This is said to be the next destination for the Holy Knight Order.”
“What’s the Holy Knight Order?”
“It’s a military organization that carries out the orders of the Pope and the Great Temple of the Holy Kingdom.”
“Oh, so it’s like a legion? They call it something really unique.”
“It’s because every member holds the title of Holy Knight… but that’s not important, so let’s move on. The reason they’re heading there is to root out demonic spies.”
The light in Seere’s previously emotionless eyes changed slightly. A spark of interest flickered in her previously dry gaze.
“Then we’ll be able to find out how those bastards handle things and what methods they use to sniff people out, right?”
“Yes. The Holy Knight Order seems to be short on manpower, so they get a lot of help from local adventurers. We’ll join that support group and head to the village.”
“Understood.”
Seere smiled as if she found it amusing.
“When do we leave?”
“The Holy Knight Order has to send a support request to the adventurers’ guild. They’ll probably arrive sometime tomorrow, so we should get word from the guild this afternoon.”
“Really? Not much time left, then.”
After explaining the entire plan, Eri glanced at Seere. She needed to know what the girl was thinking. Only then could she prevent Seere from doing anything that didn’t match her disguised identity.
“Your Majesty, if it turns out the Holy Knight Order has information about the Demon Realm, what will you do?”
She asked to hear Seere’s opinion.
Seere answered simply.
“Anyone who knows will have to die.”
“…I see.”
Regretting that she had asked, Eri swallowed back the bitterness that had risen in her throat. She closed her eyes for a moment, then recalled the man who had always smiled brightly at her and steadied her heart.
“Yes, you may do that. However, we must not be discovered as people from the Demon Realm. If you’re going to eliminate them, you must leave no one behind.”
“I know.”
If she used only a sword and no magic, there was no way for people to tell whether the current Seere—who had altered her appearance with magic—was human or a Demon King.
“There’s one more thing you must be careful about.”
“Again?”
“All Holy Knights can use holy power. Please keep that in mind.”
“…Is that so?”
Upon hearing that Holy Knights used holy power, a smile rose on Seere’s face. Not out of anxiety, but rather as if she found it enjoyable. The only blood relative of Seir von Devata, Seere von Devata, spoke with a face that said she was looking forward to tomorrow.
“I’ll be careful.”